Xavien Howard – August 28, 2016
Download PDF version
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Cornerback Xavien Howard
(On how he feels health-wise) – “I feel way better. I don’t even worry about my leg anymore. I feel like there’s no setbacks, so I’m feeling good.”
(On whether he will play against the Titans) – “It depends on the coaches (and) what they want me to do, but I’m practicing this whole week and getting ready to play if I do.
(On whether he feels ready to play a couple snaps) – “Yes, sir. I feel like I’m ready to play a couple snaps.”
(On whether it’s important to get adjusted to the speed of the game) – “That’s the main point that I’m worried about – just getting my feet wet.”
(On whether not thinking about an injury is a mental hurdle for an athlete to overcome) – “Yes, sir. It’s mental. Like I said, I don’t even worry about it anymore. I feel like it’s all mental.”
(On what he can contribute to the team) – “Be a playmaker (and) be around the ball. I’m a playmaker. I’m going to be around the ball.”
(On the crowd and environment at CenturyLink Field) – “I heard it was loud up there. I’m going to see when I get down there and see how the vibe is, but I heard it’s one of the loudest stadiums to play in.”
(On the loudest game he played in while at Baylor) – “(The) OU (University of Oklahoma) game was loud. OU and Oklahoma State. They were road games. They were loud games, but we were sticking in there.”
Adam Gase – August 28, 2016
Download PDF version
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On where RB Kenyan Drake and CB Xavien Howard stand right now for Thursday’s game and what he would like to see from them during the next two weeks of practice) – “We’re going to play them both. Really, right now, we’re going to go through the next couple days of practice to see where they’re at as far as (a) conditioning standpoint. I think they’re in good shape, but obviously, it’s not dynamic football shape right now. Probably ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is a little ahead of (Kenyan) Drake, but we’ll have probably a set number of plays they can go and try to stay in that range and not go over. We don’t want to overdo it, but I think right now they need to play. Those guys – if they’re active for the Seattle game – it’d be nice for them to have the experience of an NFL game.”
(On the outlook for LB Jelani Jenkins) – “Right now, it’s week to week for us. It’s going to be about how quick he can get his strength back. Every person is different. It’s really (about) the pain tolerance (and) how quick can the rehab go. I can say there’s a possibility that that first game he’s good. We have to see how his body reacts to everything.”
(On what he has seen from LB Spencer Paysinger) – “What he brings to the table is he knows all the positions. Obviously, he’s a very good special teams player for us, but his ability to be able to plug into any spot – and us not really lose anything as far as a guy knowing what to do – is valuable. When you have a player like that, especially that has some experience, that makes you feel better as a coach, and I think he’s been doing well as far as the way he’s played in preseason games and the way he’s practiced. You see a guy that’s constantly trying to get better.”
(On DT Ndamukong Suh not practicing) – “With the practice structure we had today, we just thought we’d rather him stay inside and get a little bit healthier instead of getting him out there on the turf for what did we do, like three periods with offense (vs.) defense? And then a lot of times guys were standing around as far as what we were doing (with) some instructional things and situational stuff. We just thought it was better for him to stay in and kind of rehab.”
(On the offense celebrating TE Jordan Cameron’s touchdown reception in practice) – “I think that’s something, offensively those guys are … We’ve been doing things a little different as far as, when we get in the end zone, we’re all celebrating together. It’s not a one-man show. I think those guys have been doing that during games, and it has really carried over to practice. Obviously, those guys … That’s a guy that all those guys really like and they really care about. For us in that situation, that was a big play in that 2-minute period. Him making that play, and (he) made a couple of good plays in that series and you could see Ryan’s (Tannehill) going to go to him. He know he has a great matchup sometimes, especially when it’s on a linebacker or safety. You’re going to see he’ll keep getting opportunities.”
(On CB Xavien Howard’s readiness to play) – “I think we’re good to go. We just need to get him out there in a preseason game just so he gets a feel of how it really is. If we lined up in Game 1 tomorrow, he could play.”
(On CB Xavien Howard developmentally being ready to play) — “Playing corner with what we do, it’s really what he’s been doing his whole life. We’re going to line him up and tell him to cover that guy – whoever’s across from him. We’re not going to make it hard on him. It’s no secret kind of what we do on defense. We attack and we play man-to-man coverage.”
(On an update on C Mike Pouncey’s injury) – “It’s just going to be week to week. We got to keep seeing how he feels every day, and we constantly keep monitoring everything. I don’t want to put pressure on him to be like, ‘You have to be back at this date.’ It’s something that we’re going to keep looking at.”
(On how G Anthony Steen played) – “He did a good job. I know he had the one ball on the ground, but for the most part, he did his job. There’s quite a few times where he had to do some things as far as redirecting some protections along with him and Ryan (Tannehill) communicating. (The) communication was outstanding. I love the way he plays. He’s aggressive, and he’s one of those guys that finds a way to get it done, plays physical and tough.”
(On RB Isaiah Pead’s status) – “It’s probably going to be a couple of weeks. Unfortunately for him, (it is) another hamstring. We’ll see where we’re at on the roster. Obviously, I think he has done a good job, and it’s unfortunate for him, because he was rolling pretty good. We’ll see how everything falls.”
(On LB James-Michael Johnson not practicing) – “On the turf, we’re trying to be smart on that. But he looks like he’s on track to possibly practice tomorrow and then try to get ready for this game. Anytime we go indoors, we don’t want any setbacks in there. It seems like every time we go in there – if you’re kind of a borderline guy – we’re just being smart with that. The turf seems to affect our guys quite a bit.”
(On how much harder is it to make a roster decision about a player who is injured) – “It’s tough. You got to figure out what’s the right thing to do. Has the film and what the guy has done in practice (make you) say, ‘Hey, you’ve made it, and we’re going to have to carry you.’ And then obviously, you have a few options you can do to kind of hold a spot and then be able to bring him back. We haven’t really made any of those decisions. We need to get through Thursday first and then we’ll figure out all those little moves.”
(If whether a player’s injury history affects roster decisions) – “You try not to let it, but everything comes into play. It’s almost like the draft process. You look at everything and then you have to evaluate what you want to do as far as your final roster.”
(On making roster moves ahead of the Tuesday deadline) – “It’s something that (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) … I remember very early on – before we really got going on all this stuff, and that date was set – he told me, he goes, ‘I’d rather do it early to try to give those guys a little bit of a head start as far as if other teams want to look at him.’ We knew who the guys were that we were going to release. Obviously, it’s never fun telling a guy that he’s not going to be here. I felt like the guys that we all talked to were very appreciative as far as getting an opportunity. Obviously, some of those guys could have the possibility of coming back. They were all smart guys, too. They know our system and this last game trying to get down to that number and making sure. ‘Okay, how many guys do we need for each spot?’ And you’re trying to play a game too at the same time. You need to be a little strategic as far as what you’re going to do in this game.”
(On if cutting players as a head coach was tougher than he thought it would be) – “I was usually involved in those decisions. In Denver (Broncos) and Chicago (Bears), it seemed like the relationship I had with a lot of those guys was pretty close. I know in Denver there were a couple of times with some older guys that I had to sit there and talk to. It’s not an easy thing to do; it’s probably the worst part of being involved in this profession because you do get close with a lot of these guys, especially when you’re with a guy since we’ve started in April, and you watch these guys work as hard as they did. They’ve given you everything they have and you want to make sure as a coach, you give them an opportunity to put it on tape and give them reps at practice, so at least when they leave here they say, ‘I got better and I got a fair shot,’ as far as an opportunity.”
(On if he has a position on players protesting in situations like San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick) – “Well, the only thing I’d say with that, kind of like the league said as far as, every guy has their position on certain things and they’re able to express it in certain ways. There is nothing that says they can’t do that. I know our guys in our locker room, if they have certain stances they stand behind, it’s not my right to say, ‘You can’t do that.’”
(On his overall snapshot of the wide receivers and tight ends) – “I think we have to clean up the drops. They know it. We’ve talked about it quite a bit as far as, when we do have these games where the ball’s on the ground too much, what do we need to do to get better? Today I saw a lot of guys working on doing extra in-between periods, when special teams were going on, they were catching balls. I know (Wide Receivers Coach) Shawn (Jefferson) and Ryan (Tannehill) were throwing balls to guys – (and) the other quarterbacks – and try to do some things like distraction drills to keep their focus on catching the ball. This is a very prideful group – all those guys that are skill guys – and they don’t want to be the guy to drop the ball in big situations. I know when the littlest thing happens, they want to make sure they fix it. They don’t want to be that guy. They want to be the guy that makes the big play.”
(On if he is concerned about QB Matt Moore not being back in time for the opener) – “No. Obviously we’re going through the concussion protocol. He looks like everything is on track. I know he is itching to start getting back out there and doing things. But obviously we have the procedure that we follow, which for us, it makes everything nice and clean to where we know exactly where we’re at in that procedure. I know he’s tired of sitting around. He missed some meeting time because he wasn’t here. We had him stay at home or we had him with the doctor and the training room. I know he’s kind of over sitting around.”
(On if he is concerned about the quarterback depth) – “I’m not. I’m good.”
(On where he stands on allowing veterans to play in the fourth preseason game) – “I think we are in a different situation because we are so young, we probably have more guys that need to play more than the luxury of having so many guys sitting out. I guess you can look at it as … for (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren) Rizzi especially, I think we can play some guys. Any kind of game experience is great. It is football at the end of the day and things happen, but I’m not going to sit here and stay up all night worrying if somebody is going to get hurt. We are going to play and some guys will be out and some guys will be playing.”
(On RB Daniel Thomas and the other running backs having a great opportunity to play Thursday night while some guys sit out) – “Yes, I mean especially in this game. Who knows what the weather is going to be like. If it becomes one of those games where those guys are touching the ball quite a bit, there’s a chance it will really make it tough on us from an evaluation standpoint. At the same time, they’re putting tape out there for 31 other teams. It is a great opportunity for the backs; it’s a great opportunity for the offensive linemen too, if we end up having to run the ball quite a bit. The running backs, it’s a fine line when you have an older guy and you have a big group of guys that are really young. I know it’s the fourth preseason game, but you’re still a competitor, you still want to get as many touches as you can and you want to get on film as much as you can.”
